Tag Archive: F-Secure

It’s an imprecise metric, but it shines an interesting light on our times. At the beginning of 2007, computer security firm F-Secure was tracking about 250,000 malware signatures; now, as the end of 2007 approaches, F-Secure estimates it will be tracking about 500,000 malware signatures when the year is done.

The surprising increase in the sheer number of malware programs in the wild has to do with variants: malware creators are now generating variants on their viruses, worms, and trojans in bulk in an effort to stave off the efforts of antivirus software (such as that produced by F-Secure, and also competitors like Symantec and McAfee). F-Secure believes actual innovation in the malware "industry" is in decline, with creators focussing on a quantity-over-quality approach to tricking Internet users, taking over their systems, or stealing personal information.